Canary
by AgentMaryMargaretSkitz
Summary: Arrow AU snapshots: Five years ago, Sara Lance joined her friend Thea Queen on her family's ship, only to be presumed dead after it sank. Now, she's been discovered alive and has returned to her city. But she has a mission now to stop the people who are hurting her city. And with the help of some friends, she's determined to do it.
1. Chapter 1

**Uhhh this just kind of happened thanks to a bunch of people encouraging me. You'll end up seeing a series of this basically. It's not going to be whole episodes. Mainly just snippets.**

 **Basically this one came out of a joke about an Arrow AU where Leonard finds her in his car with a callback to the dumpster in Daredevil.**

* * *

She could tell that she was hurt badly as she climbed to her feet in the dumpster. It would make sense to be thankful that the trash in it hadn't been medical supplies or construction materials. Sara told herself that she would be thankful later after she got back to Sin and Oliver.

Hoisting herself out of the dumpster, she stumbled a little on her landing. On the other side of the alley was the parking garage for the company she worked for. Pressing a hand to one of the wounds on her side, Sara started to limp toward it. Walking was out of the option, let alone running across the rooftops to get back to the others. It would only draw attention to herself. What she needed right now was to get back as soon as possible.

* * *

When Leonard got into his car, he had the feeling he wasn't alone. Something shifted out of the corner of his eye, and he spun around in his seat toward it. His eyes widened when he saw a blonde woman in a white leather outfit in the backseat. She lifted her face toward him, revealing a white mask over her eyes. It was the Canary, the vigilante that had appeared a few months ago who he and Sara talked about sometimes at work.

"What the…"

"I'm not going to hurt you, Leonard," she rasped, pulling herself up a little.

Leonard froze. Was he a target of hers? "How do you know my name?"

The Canary smiled before grimacing as she reached a hand up and removed her mask. "Because you know me."

He stared back at Sara Lance. Suddenly, it made sense that she was the Canary. There had been days where he had wondered about his coworker. He's see her come into work with odd bruises, and once an arm brace, that reminded him too much of his childhood. When he had asked her if everything was okay, she had waved him off and told her that her soccer league had had a rough practice or game. Then there were the strange searches that he had spotted on her computer, the times when she slipped out of work to for a few minutes before coming back. Even the one time she asked him to get in touch with his sister's boyfriend to have him analyze the contents of a syringe that she claimed was a 'sports drink'.

"You're the Canary," he uttered, catching sight of her outfit. There were two patches of red, one on her shoulder and the other her stomach. He could still see blood oozing out of the wounds. "Sara, what happened? You're bleeding."

"Yep, already knew that," she winced. "Leonard, you gotta help me."

"And I'm assuming a hospital is out of the question?"

He had a feeling he already knew the answer to this. Even though he wasn't a vigilante, Leonard had had his fair share of experiences having to patch himself or Lisa up after his father's 'lessons'.

Sara nodded. "There's an old factory in the Glades, one that belonged to Queen Consolidated. Get me there. Now."

"You've got supplies there?" he asked.

"Yes, but please hurry!"

* * *

"Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty."

Sara turned her head to see Leonard sitting in a chair beside the table she was lying on. His shirt had dried spots of blood on it, her blood. He looked completely exhausted, but still managed to shoot a smirk her way.

"So how long have you been waiting to say that?" she asked.

"Not sure. Maybe seven hours."

She raised her eyebrows. "And have you been watching me the entire time I've been out?"

"Guilty," he admitted with a shrug. "But I didn't want to leave unless I knew you were okay. After all, I did find you bleeding out in my car wearing your Canary gear."

He knew her secret now. That meant she and Sin and Oliver were going to have to talk with him.

"I won't tell anyone you're the Canary though," he said.

"Good, because then I'd have to kill you."

Leonard frowned. "I'm not sure whether or not I want to know if you're serious."

Sara laughed and sat up slowly. "So have Sin and Oliver talked to you at all since you brought me here?"

"They both did," he replied. "They asked if I wanted in on your mission. I said yes."

Sara smiled. She'd long considered bringing Leonard into the small inner circle. He was smart, resourceful, and clever. All helpful tactics. Plus, he knew how to keep a secret. "Guess that means we'll be working more together now."

"Sure you won't get bored of me," he teased, crossing his arms.

"I don't think that's possible."

* * *

 **And there you have it!**

 **If you have ANY suggestions of scenes from Arrow that you want me to adapt to this, then I will be all too happy to do so.**


	2. The Dodger

**So yeah, I ended up writing this thing today on the suggestion of michaelsc0fields (saralxnces on tumblr). I couldn't help but to it, especially after an AO3 comment on Tales of the Crook and the Assassin asked for something similar. Soooo here you have it.**

 **(And I am totally doing a chapter later titled The Secret Origin of Leonard Snart)**

* * *

"So we heard that the Canary was spotted on the scene of a bust on a fence," Leonard said as Sara entered the lair. "The Dodger was supposedly on the scene too."

"He was, but he got away," Sara grumbled, thinking about how she had been so close to getting him. If it hadn't been for that damn collar he tossed her way, she would have had him. "I really want to catch this guy now before he skips town."

"Maybe try luring him out into the open?" Sin suggested. "He seems like the guy who can't turn down a bright and shiny object."

"The kid's right," Leonard agreed, earning a pointed look from Sin. "If we find what he likes, then maybe we can draw him out."

"So let's look for a connection," Sara said, stepping around Oliver to sit down at the computer. "Just gotta get into the police database and find the reports of his thefts."

"Allow me," Leonard moved over to the computer. "Haven't done this in a while, but I can get in there quick and easy."

Before Sara could question the how, he had the reports pulled up. Sara looked over his shoulder down at the screen. All the pilfered jewels appeared to be from the same time period. It seemed the Dodger did have a type after all.

"So we just need to find something from that era to lure him out," Sin said. "Anyone happen to know of a random jewel from the Obsta-whatsit period that we can use to bait him?"

"I might," Oliver stepped forward, pulling up another web page on the monitor. "Starling City Cancer Society is having a fundraising auction tomorrow night. We can lure him out into the open there."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Leonard asked. "I highly doubt a jewel thief is going to be fooled by a fake."

"There's a chance I can get my family to put up the real deal," Oliver replied. "I might not be the most popular family after not taking over the company when they wanted me too, but I could be able to persuade my family."

"Do they even have a jewel like that?"

"Family as rich as the Queens," Sara shot a grin Oliver's way. "They can buy one if they don't."

* * *

The next night, the four met up at the benefit. Oliver had indeed been successful in getting his family to donate a brooch from the Ominous Era, so the plan was looking to be a go. Leonard had met up with him before the event opened so they could place a GPS tracker in the brooch. If the Dodger did show up and nab it, they could track it to see where he was going.

He and Oliver crossed paths again inside the benefit with Sara and Sin. The latter looked uncomfortable in the black dress she was wearing, like she wanted nothing more than to be back in jeans and her leather jacket. Sara, on the other hand, seemed more relaxed in her own dress.

"Any idea what we'll do with the Dodger if we catch him here?" Leonard asked. "Or if he runs and we need to go after him."

"Running in heels is manageable," Sara shrugged. "Or I can kick them off. Besides, I have seven knives on me."

Leonard turned toward her, frowning at her outfit. "How were you able to fit them all in your dress?"

"Not as hard as it looks," she said before heading off to go search for the Dodger.

Five minutes after he had met with the others, he saw the red dot that symbolized the jewel's tracker was no longer stationary. It was moving in his direction now. Looking up, he could see a man heading his way. Leonard caught sight of the brooch in the man's hand. Without hesitation, he stepped into the man's path and grabbed his arm before he could pass by.

"Not so fast," he hissed into the Dodger's ear. "That brooch isn't up for grabs. If you want it, then you're going to have to bid just like everybody else."

The jewel thief sneered at him. "I'd thought I'd actually just take it, and avoid the trouble."

* * *

"Sara," he said, walking quickly toward her. "We've got a problem."

Sara whirled around. Her eyes widened at the sight of the bomb collar around his neck. "Oh no."

Sin appeared by her side, looking spooked. "Okay, that's bad."

"You think?" he deadpanned as Sara grabbed his arm and pulled him after her. They passed by Oliver, who followed after them into a side room. Sin shut the door behind them once they were all inside what they now realized was an office.

"Sara, he's getting away," Leonard told her as Oliver began to look around the room for something. "If you want him, then you need to go now."

Sara nodded after a moment of hesitation. "Where did he leave?"

Leonard peered down at his phone. "South exit."

"On it," she said quickly, heading for the door before turning around. "We'll get you out of this, Leonard."

With that, she was gone. Oliver approached him, a safety pin in hand. Sin was watching the phone with him, activating the comm system so they could keep in contact with Sara. As Oliver pried off a small cover on the collar, Leonard saw his brow furrow.

"You can't disable it, can you?"

Oliver shook his head. "I've disabled bombs before, but they were nothing like this. I do know someone who can, but I don't know where she is right now."

"So get out of here," he snapped. "If I'm going up, then I'm not taking you with me."

Sin crossed her arms. "Not happening."

"You're a part of this team now, Snart," Oliver agreed. "No one gets left behind. Besides, I have faith that Sara is going to find a way to get you out."

* * *

One motorcycle chase later, the Dodger was crawling out of the wreck of his car. Sara disembarked the motorbike she's "borrowed", keeping her helmet on. She hoped that Leonard and Sin and Oliver were okay right now. As she approached the Dodger, he saw her and scrambled the rest of the way out of his car and onto his feet. In his hand, Sara spotted a small remote, probably controlling the collar on Leonard's neck.

"Don't do anything stupid," he warned, making sure she could see the controller. "I crossed paths with a man who didn't seem to want the brooch stolen. Touch a hair on my head, and his will be gone. Quite a choice you have now, don't you?"

Sara gritted her teeth. This thief was threatening to kill Leonard. If she didn't do something, he would murder her friend and coworker. This was not going to fly with her.

"Not happening," she snarled, letting one of her knives fly into his arm right where she wanted it. "I've just severed your amnion nerve. Even if you tried, you would never be able to push that button."

The Dodger looked up at her in horror as she stepped up to him and plucked the remote from his hand. Looking down, she saw two buttons, one green and one red. The latter one was flashing. Hoping that she hadn't just doomed Leonard to death, she pressed the green one.

A relieved sigh came through her comm. Sara let out one too when she heard Leonard and Sin tell her that he was safe. With safety guaranteed for her friends, she returned her attention to the Dodger. He was trying to plead his life, claiming that they were the same, stealing from the rich and all. It was only a distraction though, as she watched a rod slip out of his sleeve. Before he could hit her with it, Sara turned it back on him. There was a sharp buzzing sound before he slumped unconscious to the ground.

"I am nothing like you," she uttered before returning to the motorcycle.

* * *

"Hey."

Leonard looked up from where he was sitting on the empty stool in the nightclub Sara partially owned. She was walking towards him, probably having just come from the lair underneath. Her dress was gone, replaced with a shirt and jeans. A duffle was slung over her shoulder, which she put onto the floor as she took a seat on the stool next to him.

"You held up really good tonight, you know that?" she told him. "Most people would probably have freaked out, but you didn't. You stayed cool and calm."

"It wasn't too hard," he shrugged. "Although if things did go wrong, I wish Sin and Oliver hadn't been in the room too. If I was going to die, it might have been better to minimalize casualities."

Sara shook her head. "That wasn't going to happen. We've all been looking out for each other since this began. I understand why you would want them to get out, and that you're kind of a lone wolf who looks after himself. But now you have other people who have your back too."

"I didn't peg you to get so touchy-feely."

Sara smirked and stood up. "Seriously though, you staying cool under that collar was good. I've noticed you're actually pretty cool under pressure in general."

Leonard nodded. He wanted to tell her that he had been forced into that way to protect himself. But as close as he was to Sara, now was not the time to tell her about his past. Maybe one day he could tell her what had made him the way he was. She had already broken down some of his walls anyway.

"I'm going to head home and get some sleep," she said, slipping off the stool. "See you at work, Captain Cold."

Leonard lifted his head when she said that. "Captain what?"

Sara shrugged. "You needed a codename."

"Do Oliver and Sin have ones too?"

"Sin is her codename," Sara laughed. "I'm trying to think of one for Oliver. It'll come to me eventually."

"So should I be honored to get a nickname before Queen?"

"Hey, if you have a suggestion for a codename for him, I'll be happy to hear it," Sara said as she pulled out her keys and headed for the door. "See you later."

"Goodnight, Sara."

* * *

 **So there you are. Another little snippet.**

 **What scene should I try for next?**


	3. The Huntress Returns

**So I'm back now. Sorry this took so long, but I finally have another installment. This one's "The Huntress Returns". Someone requested it, but I can't remember who. Anyways, here it is now. Hope you all enjoy.**

 **Also, did a little spin by giving Sara a boyfriend at this current moment because she's gonna have a lot of girlfriends, including Helena. I figured I had to give her a boyfriend at some point between all the girlfriends before I make CC canon in this.**

* * *

It couldn't be nothing. That's what Leonard determined as he studied the police report. There was no way that the theft was just some moron who was a wannabe vigilante or too gung-ho to wait for hunting season to start. Sara told him that Helena's signature weapon was a crossbow, and a high powered one had been stolen from the sporting goods shop. It was too much of a coincidence, even if Sara had told them that Helena was leaving town after she'd been busted out the precinct.

He had to tell her.

Leonard reached over and picked up the phone on his desk before punching in Sara's number. As he waited for her to pick up, his fingers drummed on the desk impatiently. Hopefully, she was still awake and willing to pull on her Canary gear to stop Helena.

" _This is Sara. Leave a message and I'll get back to you."_

Great, she wasn't answering. Leonard sighed and shook his head. She was probably asleep or over at her boyfriend's at the moment.

"Sara, it's Leonard," he said. "I was multitasking, and ended up seeing a police report about a robbery at a sporting goods store in the city. The only thing that was taken was a high powered crossbow. Given your psycho ex-girlfriend, and I'm quoting Sin on that one, has a tendency to use those, I highly doubt she actually skipped town. You might want to watch your back, Sara."

"Isn't that sweet of you to give advice?"

Leonard snapped his head up to see Helena Bertinelli approaching his desk. A mask covered her eyes and she was in a dark get-up, but he knew it was her immediately.

"I don't think we got properly introduced this morning," she said. "I'm Helena."

Leonard didn't move. He wasn't sure what he was going to do. Not yet.

"Not a talker?" Helena tilted her head. "That's fine. I'll do all the talking. To start, how about you be a good little worker and hack into the FBI database?"

* * *

" _You might want to watch your back, Sara."_

" _Isn't that sweet of you to give advice?"_

Those last sentences of the voicemail Leonard had left her echoed in her head as she raced across town toward the building she worked in. She had already given Oliver the heads up as soon as she had heard the message. Hopefully, Helena was still there and she could catch her in time. Although she was also hoping that Leonard wasn't going to end up like the rest of the people who had worked for Helena's father. If that happened to him, she would never forgive herself.

"Leonard!" she shouted as she got off on their floor. "Leonard!"

"Sara!"

She sprinted towards his voice, stopping when she saw his shoes peeking out from behind his desk. Running around to the other side, Sara saw Leonard on the ground, wrists and ankles bound. A sigh of relief left her lips when she saw that he was uninjured. Then she pulled out a knife and began to cut away at the restraints.

"Are you okay?" she asked as he sat up.

"I'm fine."

More footsteps sounded in the hallway, growing closer to them. Sara shot to her feet, knife in hand ready to throw in case Helena was back. When Sin and Oliver appeared, she was glad that she hadn't gone with the throw-first-ask-questions-later approach. Relieved, she lowered the knife.

"I got your call," Oliver said before nodding toward Sin. "Grabbed her on my way over here."

"What happened?" Sin asked as Leonard stood up beside Sara. "Was it the psycho ex?"

Sara sighed. "Yes, it was Helena."

"She wanted to know where her father's safe house was," Leonard explained in a tight voice. "I had to hack into the FBI with a crossbow to my head to find the address. So this one's on me."

"Hey," Sara put her hand on his shoulder. "It is not your fault."

It was hers. She had been the one to take Helena in, to try and get her to use her dark side for good. But the darkness in Helena seemed to have overtaken her. Justice didn't matter to her anymore. She just wanted revenge against her father. As bad a man Frank Bertinelli was, Sara knew Helena's mission to kill him would not satisfy her revenge, but only deepen her suffering. Now, she had to stop her before it was too late.

Also, she'd messed with her friend. There was no way she was letting that one go.

Sara began to walk away from Leonard, Oliver, and Sin. They needed to stay safe at the moment. Right now, it was time for the Canary to step in to stop Helena.

"Sara," Sin called behind her. "What are you going to do?"

She stopped and turned around. "I'm going to stop what I created."

* * *

A cup of coffee in a takeaway cup appeared in front of him. Leonard jumped slightly out of his drowsiness as it came into his vision. Looking up, he saw Sara standing in front of his desk, holding her own cup.

"Thought you might need something to wake you up," she said as she walked over to her own desk. "Last night got pretty late for us."

"No kidding," he sighed, holding back a yawn, gratefully taking the coffee. "I get why I saw you almost nod off a few times when you first came here."

"That was before I got adjusted to my late night schedule," Sara shrugged. "It happened pretty quickly for me. You'll get used to it too."

"I hope so," Leonard replied as he took a long swig of the coffee. "Thanks for this, by the way."

"No problem," she nodded. "Also, sorry I showed up a little too late last night."

"I'm just glad she didn't kill me. Speaking of which, how did everything go down with your psycho ex last night?"

Sara's face was stony as she stopped typing. "She's gone. Again. But she did shoot Alex in the leg. It was pretty bad."

"And how's he doing now?" Leonard asked. He'd heard of jealous exes before, but Sara's ex-girlfriend shooting her current boyfriend was a new level of its own.

"Well, he's had two surgeries and was due for another when I visited him before coming here. After he gets out of that one, he's planning to head to Coast City to stay with his brother. His plan is to do his rehab down there. I offered to come with him, transfer down to the QC branch there, but, uh, he didn't want that."

"So you two broke up?" he concluded.

Sara nodded. "Yup."

"You seem to be doing okay about it."

"Oddly enough, I feel fine," Sara admitted with a shrug. "Sure, I was a bit surprised, but now I'm fine. We were together for almost a month, but I just don't feel sad about it."

"Maybe you're just relieved that you don't have to hide who you are anymore from him so he won't turn you over to the police."

"Perhaps," she murmured. "Keeping this secret quiet is supposed to be to keep my family and friends safe. But at the same time, it's also hurting them, preventing me from ever being able to be with someone without them getting hurt."

Leonard nodded. He knew what secrets did to people, how much of a toll they could take. The days where you wanted to go to the person you trusted and cared about most of all and to tell them everything, but were afraid to with the way they would look at you.

"I'm sure you'll be able to get around that someday," he said.

"Hopefully."

They were silent for a while before Sara chuckled. "This is probably one of the sappiest discussions we've ever had."

"I don't do sappy."

"Well, you kind of just did."

* * *

 **And there we are! Hooray!**

 **Next one will probably be either the Merlyn job or the opening to City of Heroes.**


	4. Darkness on the Edge of Town

**Good news all, I'm back! Sorry this took a while, I've been busy on other writing projects while juggling uni. On the plus side, I do have the S1 finale draft written out, although it's going to require some tweaks due to a last minute change of heart. I'm also working on a spin of the Pilot so I can establish a better ground for everything and get in some more characters.**

 **But for now, enjoy the infamous Merlyn Job and a few new faces. I've altered canon a little bit for the story, so there's some differences here.**

 **Shoutout to saralxnces for the inspiration of, well pretty much this entire AU.**

* * *

"Sara! Sara!"

Sara blinked her eyes open and looked in the direction of the voice. In the glare of a light, she could see her mother tied to a chair, eyes wide with concern and fear. Sara tried to stand up to help her, but couldn't. Glancing down, she saw she was tied to a chair as well, exactly according to plan.

"Mom?" she groaned, turning her head back toward her mother.

"Sara!" her mother sounded slightly relieved, but also panicked at the same time. "Are you okay? What's happening?"

"I…I don't know," she lied, squinting through the light to see if Oliver and his mother were in the warehouse too.

Her answer came a moment later after Moira came to and started to call out to Oliver. Sara's mother heard her, and the two women began to ask each other what was happening. Sara looked across the room at Oliver. Her friend was watching his own mother closely before meeting her eyes. He nodded at her.

"Dinah Lance," a modulated female voice echoed around the warehouse. "Moira Queen. You have failed this city."

A blonde in white leather and a mask entered the scene. She looked toward Sara briefly. Sara looked Sin in the eye and gave a tiny nod. This wasn't going to pretty or fun, but it was what they needed to do if they were going to figure out what the Undertaking was.

It was time to learn what they were facing.

* * *

Leonard's head snapped up as soon as he heard the footsteps coming down the staircase. Sin was the first to enter, pulling off the blonde wig and tossing it onto the table. Oliver and Sara followed shortly after her. Both of them had bruises from the "interrogation".

"What did you do?" he demanded as he got up and walked toward them. "I thought you said you'd be going easy?"

"She was," Sara replied as the same moment Sin said "I did."

Leonard found himself reaching out to cup his hand under the bruise on Sara's cheek. She didn't flinch away from his touch, but met his eyes instead. She seemed calm. For a moment, Leonard didn't see Sara, but Lisa after one of their father's "lessons". He knew it had all been part of the plan to get more information about the Undertaking, but seeing Sara like this made his heart clench and brought him back to the night he had found her bleeding in the back of his car.

"I'll get some ice," he told her, withdrawing his hand when he realized it was still there.

She shook her head. "I'll be fine."

A cold pack dropped onto the table next to them. Both turned to see Oliver holding an identical one on his blackened eye. Sara looked between the two men before sighing and picking it up.

"You'll nag me until I put it on anyway," she grumbled. "Right now, we need to find out anything there is to know about Unidac Industries."

"Queen Consolidated scooped them up about six months ago," Leonard said as he retreated back to the computers to pull up information on the company."

"We all know that," Oliver nodded, looking over at Sara. The night it had been auctioned off had been the same night he had learned she was the Canary. "So what don't we know about them?"

"That they're a research and development technology company," Leonard summarized as he read off the screen. "They specialize in seismic infringement…"

"Oliver's mother did say that Malcolm Merlyn wanted to level the Glades," Sara murmured. "He's going to do this with a device that'll trigger a man-made earthquake then."

"You can actually do that?" Sin frowned.

Sara shrugged. "Apparently so."

"The only other things on Unidac are the merger with QC and the massacre," Leonard continued, clicking on the article for the latter. "Which is suspected to be the handiwork of the Archer."

"Timing can't be a coincidence," Oliver muttered. "That archer's probably a lackey hired by Merlyn to tie up loose ends that could trace back to him."

"So he wipes away all evidence of his involvement," Sin sighed, looking to Sara. "So is the Canary going to go after Merlyn now?"

Sara shook her head. "If I go after Merlyn and stop him, the Archer can still set off that device. We need to find it first before we go after them."

"I can do that," Leonard smirked, fingers moving over the keyboard to hack into Merlyn Global.

"Hold on," Sara looked over his shoulder. "Are you hacking into Merlyn Global?"

"Yes."

Sara gave an impressed nod.

Time began to go by, but with every attempt Leonard made, he was blocked out.

"Damn!" he shouted after the sixth failed attempt. This never happened to him, but clearly Merlyn had taken preventative measures to stop hackers.

"Something you finally can't get into," Sin asked, having returned wearing her normal clothes.

"Unless I can somehow get to the mainframe of Merlyn Global, there's no chance of finding out where the device is."

"So we get you in."

Oliver frowned and looked at Sara. "What?"

"He needs direct access to the mainframe, right?" Sara asked, and Leonard nodded. "So we'll get you that direct access."

"To a mainframe on the 25th floor of the main headquarters of Merlyn Global," Leonard explained. "And to get to it, you need a direct access elevator. This wouldn't be a problem, but it would take time that we don't have."

"That's why we're going to break in," Sara told them.

* * *

"Sara Lance and Leonard Snart here to see Carter Hall," Sara said as they reached the security desk in the Merlyn Global lobby. "We have an 11:30 with him."

The security guard took their IDs from them and looked them on over. As he did so, a white paper bag from Big Belly Burger dropped on the counter. Sin, dressed in a delivery uniform, leaned up beside it.

"I've got a lunch order for a Mr. King," she said. "I think he's in security or something like that."

The man's lips pursed a little at the interruption before he handed back the IDs to Sara and Leonard.

"You two are free to go," he told them before looking back at Sin. "You, on the other hand, need to wait."

Sin blew a bubble with her gum and popped it.

They loitered for a while in the lobby while Sin delivered the food to Oliver, who had gone undercover as a security guard. Leonard's fingers tapped restlessly against the briefcase. Sara noticed the movement when she came back from the bathroom. His eyes shifted around, as though he was continually casing the room. He looked on edge, but prepared.

"The other security guy's out," Sin's voice came in over the comms. "You two are a go."

The two made their way over to the elevator and pressed the button to go up. No one else was around them, which was perfect. When the doors opened, they stepped inside. As Sara reached down to press the button to shut the doors, a man with a bundle of file folders and papers raced in to stand between the two of them. He looked relieved at his good fortune, but Sara frowned at the unexpected arrival. The man noticed her and smiled.

"Where are you headed to, sweetheart?" he smirked.

Sara glared at him, hoping he would be smart enough to deduce that she wasn't interested in him.

"Okay, top secret, I get it," the fool nodded. "Hope you're riding up the nineteenth, because that's where-"

The mountain of files and papers in his grasp was knocked out the elevator and onto the floor. He swore loudly and ran out of the elevator to collect them. Once he was out, Sara hit the button quickly again. Leonard was smiling smugly as the elevator doors slid shut and the car began to rise.

"Nice move," Sara complimented.

"Thank you."

The elevator continued to rise before stopping abruptly.

"This is as far as I can get you two," Oliver told them. "Cameras are down for now, so the rest is up to you."

"On it."

Sara braced the side walls of the elevator and opened the ceiling hatch. She lifted herself up and out onto the top of the car. Leonard passed her up the briefcase before following up after her. Unlatching it, Sara withdrew the grappling gun inside, and Leonard pulled out his tablet. She took a deep breath and climbed onto the concrete beam beside their car.

"Don't look down," she advised Leonard as he made his way up onto the beam beside her.

Her friend nodded. Leonard looked calm, but still on edge like he had been in the lobby.

"Let's do this," he said, turning toward her.

Sara nodded and held his gaze for a moment before looking at the elevator shaft across from them. Raising the grappling gun, she took a deep breath and fired. The end shot out and imbedded into the beam above the doors of the twenty-fifth floor. She gave it a small tug to make sure it stayed before looking back to Leonard.

"Grab on, and hang tight to me."

Leonard complied with her instructions with a teasing "Never thought you'd ask." Sara simply smirked in response.

"On three," she told him. "Ready?"

"Ready."

"One…two…three."

She and Leonard stepped off the ledge together, pushing their momentum forward. They swung over the massive drop for only a few seconds, but it somehow felt longer. Their feet planted on the beam on the other side. Beside her, Leonard was steady, but looked as though he was making more of an effort to keep calm. Together, they moved over to where the doors were, and Sara pried them open. Once they were, Sara and Leonard stepped out on to the twenty-fifth floor.

"We made it," Sara sighed into her comm, casting a glance over at Leonard. His tablet was gripped tightly in his hand. "You okay?"

"Peachy."

"Right," she nodded. "The mainframe's around the corner. You get in there and do what you have to. I'll have my meeting with Carter, and be out before the guards come back around."

"He's not going to be happy to see you," Leonard remarked.

Sara shrugged and began to walk down the hall. "I figure."

* * *

"Leonard, you've got a problem," Oliver's voice came out of nowhere as the download neared completion.

"This better be good, Queen," Leonard hissed. "I'm almost done."

"You need to get out of there now," Oliver continued. "Sara, where are you?"

There was no response from their leader. The download was at ninety-nine percent completion.

"Hey, smartass, get out of there!" Sin yelled now. "A guard's coming your way."

One hundred percent completion. Leonard swiftly unplugged the tablet and hurried to get out of the room. As soon as he exited, he found himself face to face with the security guard Sin had just warned him about.

"Dammit, Sara," Oliver muttered as Sin swore in the background.

The guard narrowed his eyes at Leonard. "Sir, this is a restricted area."

Leonard smiled smoothly. "They needed me to check something out in here."

"They?"

"You know," he gestured toward where Sara had gone. "The higher-ups."

The security guard did not look convinced. "Show some ID."

Leonard remained calm as he started to make a show of going through his pockets. His QC badge was in one of his pockets, but that wasn't going to fly here. The man started to pull out his radio.

"You!"

Both Leonard and the guard looked toward the sound of the noise. Coming toward them was Oliver. Leonard suppressed a smirk at the wig they had gotten for him to go undercover with. The smirk didn't last very long when Oliver grabbed his arm roughly. Still, he never thought he'd be so glad to see him.

"Thought you could give me the slip, huh?" Oliver growled at him before turning to the other guard. "Thanks for catching him. Mr. Hall warned me that some bookie was harassing him, told me to keep an eye out."

The guard nodded. "I've caught a few myself."

"Thanks again," Oliver nodded before dragging Leonard along with him toward the elevators. "Come on, you're not getting cash this time."

Leonard plastered a scowl on his face as they moved past the guard who had caught him, and was now continuing on his rounds. Oliver pressed the button for the elevator while Leonard kept a lookout for anymore company that could come their way. As soon as they entered and the doors closed, both men let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close," Oliver said.

"No kidding," Leonard sighed. "Any idea what happened to Sara?"

"I'm here," her voice answered. "I ran into Merlyn on my way out. He pretty much corralled me into the elevator with him."

"We'll be down in a few," Oliver replied. "Sin, you get out now. We'll get out when we can."

* * *

"Sara?"

Sara whirled around to see Laurel approaching her. She silently swore a little that the plan of quickly going in and out was falling apart right at the very end of it. Her sister's appearance hadn't even been expected.

"Laurel?" she frowned at her older sister. "What are you doing here?"

"I…just saw Carter," Laurel replied, an obvious lie given Sara had just come from there. "I heard from Kendra that the engagement was off between them, and wanted to see if he was doing okay. What about you? Why are you here?"

Sara gave the easiest smile she could. "I was just here to see Carter too. And I actually should get going. Don't want to be late to see him."

Laurel tilted her head before she could turn away. "Sara, you just got off the elevator."

So much for giving her sister the slip. Sara heaved a sigh and looked back at her. Further back behind Laurel, there was a man with his back turned to Sara. A dark blue hood was visible over the brown jacket he wore. There was something familiar about him, and then it hit her.

"Isn't that your friend?" she inquired, peering over Laurel's shoulder. "Tommy, wasn't it?"

Laurel followed her gaze. "Yes. We met up for lunch, and he gave me a ride here."

She was definitely hiding something. Her sister might have been good at lying, but going through five years of hell that held more than their fair share of betrayals and backstabbings had trained Sara well. She knew when someone was lying.

"Laurel, why are you really here?" Sara asked. "And please, don't lie."

"Sara, I don't know-"

"Laurel," Sara said firmly, narrowing her eyes.

She sighed and crossed her arms. "Tommy and I are trying to find the vigilante, okay?"

Her sister, Lawyer Laurel, was trying to find her. Sara frowned at her. "What?"

"Ever since Tommy was rescued by her, he's been trying to track her down," Laurel explained. "And I might have overheard Dad talking about how that archer is connected to Merlyn Global. So we decided-Sara, wait!"

Sara ignored her older sister and strode up to Tommy. "Tommy!"

The man in question turned around. Sara remembered him from the subway, when she had saved his life. But she felt as if she knew him from somewhere else too. She couldn't place it though.

"I don't think we've met," she continued as sweetly as she could. "I'm Sara, Laurel's little sister."

Tommy nodded. "Yeah, she's mentioned you. Nice to finally meet you."

Sara looked at his offered hand and glared back at him. "Don't mess around with the Canary. She is a dangerous, deranged killing machine. Anyone who gets close to her ends up dead. My sister is not going to be one of those bodies. If that happens, I'll kill you myself."

Tommy looked a little paler, but his features remained neutral. Laurel was staring at her with bewilderment.

"Are we clear?" Sara demanded.

The dark haired man nodded. Behind him, Sara could see Leonard exiting the building. He caught her eye and nodded. Relieved that he was out safe, Sara returned her attention to Tommy and Laurel. Her sister still looked stunned the attitude she had just displayed towards Tommy.

"Both of you need to leave," she snapped, channeling her vigilante side. "Now."

She stalked away from them and out of Merlyn Global.

* * *

As he left Merlyn Global with Laurel, he cast one last glance behind him at the tall building. The last time he had been in there was the day before his mother had died. It felt like a lifetime ago that he'd been Tommy Merlyn, spoiled rich boy. That had been before his mother had died and his father had sent him off to a fancy private school thousands of miles away from everything and everyone he knew. It was before things had gone sour, and the school had been attacked and Tommy Merlyn was presumed to be dead.

Except he didn't die like everyone thought he had. Tommy had survived, but he's been left with nothing. The people who had tried to kill him had still been out there, and he hadn't wanted to die at such a young age. So he had become a new person, both in name and personality. Tommy Newman was a new man, his former name long left behind.

"I'm sorry about Sara," Laurel apologized. "I didn't think she's react like that. She's usually the adventurous one, or at least she used to be."

"Probably the island," Tommy replied, looking over at her.

Laurel Lance might claim to be the less adventurous one, but Tommy had memories of her always climbing higher up a tree than him or Oliver Queen, or racing down a hill on their bikes to see who could go the fastest. It had always been him, her, and Oliver when they were younger before everything went wrong. They had lost their friend, and still believed he was dead. He'd been spending time with Laurel for weeks ever since she'd snatched her purse (in fairness, Tommy hadn't know it was her until later), and yet she still didn't recognize him. Maybe it was for the best. Tommy Merlyn had been a selfish brat. Now, he was older, wiser, and understood the world he lived in.

"We'll still find her," Laurel assured him. "Merlyn Global isn't the only connection to the Archer. The vigilante might be somewhere else."

"Here's hoping," he nodded.

* * *

"So you're telling me you couldn't get in?" Quentin Lance grumbled.

Kelton shook his head. "Merlyn Global has off the charts cybersecurity. Any path I tried to take in, I got shut out."

"You said you had good and bad news," the other detective in the room said gruffly. "What's the good news?"

"I wasn't the only person who tried to hack into the company," Kelton said triumplhantly.

Quentin set down his coffee. "What?"

"Someone else tried to get into the company's database too," he continued. "Used the same pathways I did, looking for any nooks and crannies to get in, and covered his tracks on the way out too."

"He?"

"Yeah," Kelton nodded. "His name's Leonard Snart. He works for Queen Consolidated."

The other man with Kelton and Quentin stiffened, but neither of them noticed.

"Who the hell is Leonard Snart?" Quentin frowned.

"I know," Detective Mick Rory sighed, shaking his head.

"How?"

"We go back."

* * *

 **Ta-da! There you have it.**

 **And yes, Newman is my attempt to be clever.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think. Or if you have a prediction on who you think is going to die in the next chapter- the S1 finale!**


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